New Beginnings
by lano1302
Summary: When Harry finds Draco Malfoy bloody and beaten in the Weasleys' front lawn, secrets start to come out about the two former enemies. SLASH. PreHBP set after fifth book
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Away at last! Harry was so relieved to wake up and not be in the bed he slept in at the Dursley's house. Being there had not helped his already bad mood. They didn't even allow him out of the house this summer. Now that he could, Harry decided to go take a walk. After getting dressed, the young man crept down the stairs and out through the kitchen door into the refreshing morning air.

It was dawn at the Borrow, the home of Harry Potter's best friend, Ron Weasley. Harry had been staying at the home of his aunt and uncle for almost four weeks. He was beginning to go a little crazy. (Well, crazier really.) One can only take being called a pathetic freak so many times. Then, fortunately, the night before, his old professor, Remus Lupin, came and took him to the Burrow. He was almost hoping he had stayed at the Dursley's, because he was dreading tomorrow.

Tomorrow he had to go to twelve Grimmauld Place where his godfather used to live. Harry didn't want to go back; he didn't want to relive Sirius's death over and over as he had for the last four weeks. He didn't want to see the closest person to a father he had ever had fall, slain by his own cousin. He didn't want think about those memories anymore. The more Harry thought about the Department of Mysteries the more the memories threatened to overwhelm him.

When he walked outside it was so peaceful. Peaceful, now there was a word not usually used to describe Harry's life. Chaotic, painful, and lonely were more common in his life. But sure enough, birds were chirping, the garden gnomes were being quiet, the air smelled like Mrs. Weasley's flowers; a bloody body was laying in the front yard… Wait, a bloody body?

Harry ran over to where the person was lying face down in the grass. As he knelt down next to the man, he could see the wounds more clearly. Almost too clearly, in fact. There were whip marks all down his back leading into his blue boxers. One of his legs was twisted into a funny position and looked broken. The blood covering his head probably meant something had hit him there, but Harry couldn't tell through-Oh god, there was so much blood. And no wonder! From what Harry could see the guy had been stabbed a few times too.

As gently as he could, Harry rolled the man over to see his face. Concerned emerald eyes met teary silver ones, as Harry looked into the face of his school rival, Draco Malfoy. He couldn't believe it. Draco Malfoy was lying near dead in the Weasley's front lawn. What was he doing here? Why was he covered in blood?

Malfoy was as shocked as Harry was. "Potter? Oh, well that is just perfect. Just the person I wanted to see again before I die." He clenched his teeth in pain. Apparently it wasn't even a good idea for him to speak, which was too bad. Not that Harry minded having the blond quiet, but an explanation was kind of needed at the moment.

"Calm down, Malfoy. I'm not just going to let you die here."

Malfoy smiled, or at least attempted to smile. It wound up being more of a grimace. "I didn't think you would," he whispered. "I didn't think the Weasels would either. That's why I'm here. Ow, dammit!"

Malfoy hissed in pain and took a deep but shaky breath. Then something completely unexpected happened. He started to cry. Tears were streaming from the Slytherin's eyes, as he tried to turn away. Having his arch rival see him cry was not on today's to do list. But he just couldn't help it. He had nearly been beaten to death and his father had just watched. Thinking about it only made Malfoy cry harder. He lay flat on his back and looked straight up at the sky, letting the tears stream freely down his face.

Suddenly, there was something stroking the only part of his head not covered in blood. Turning his head slightly, Malfoy saw Harry Potter looking concerned. Then the realization hit. Potter was petting him. Potter was looking concerned over him. And that felt good. Talk about scary situations.

Of course, Harry wasn't having the best morning either. Draco Malfoy was lying, near dead on the Weasley's front lawn, and crying. Malfoy was crying for heaven's sake! And he, Harry Potter, bane of Malfoy's existence, was the one comforting him. Life is strange, which is probably the reason for what he did next.

As carefully as possible, Harry slipped his arm underneath Malfoy's back and his other at the back of his knees. He then lifted the sobbing Slytherin off the ground.

"What are you doing?" Malfoy asked. Being lifted into the air by one's arch nemesis was not a good thing.

Harry rolled his eyes. "I thought it was rather obvious, Malfoy. I'm carrying you to the house."

Malfoy was in shock. He had expected someone to find him and go get help. Never in his dreams had he expected to be invited into the house he had so mercilessly made fun of the past five years. Nonetheless, there he was, being carried inside the Weasley home by Harry Potter.

When Harry reached the front door he heard someone inside yelling at someone else.

"Really George! Is that absolutely necessary? Fred, stop doing that and Ginny, dear, stop running all over the place!"

Harry smiled at the scene. He was lucky he got to see stuff like this, even if he would never really experience it. Then he saw Ron coming down the stairs.

"Hey, Ron," he yelled. "Could you open the door, mate?"

Ron walked over and opened the door, but didn't move to let Harry inside.

"Harry," he said slowly. "Harry, you realize who you are carrying, don't you?"

Harry sighed. "Yes, Ron, I know who I am carrying. Now, will you please move out of the way? He is getting rather heavy and before you say it look at him. He is in no condition to put up a fight. And in case he is a spy we won't say anything important around him. Alright?"

By the time Ron move out of the way, the entire kitchen had stopped to see whom Harry was holding. Instantly, Mrs. Weasley took command.

"Someone go get Madam Pomfrey. Then go get Dumbledore."

End chap. 1


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Fred and George went to get Professor Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey. When they got back twenty minutes later, things had gotten quite out of hand. Malfoy was upstairs in Mr. and Mrs. Weasley's bed throwing a fit with Mr. Weasley and Ron. Meanwhile Harry was trying to escape from the 'good talking to' Mrs. Weasley and Hermione were giving him in the kitchen. This comes as no surprise considering the fact that the talk consisted mainly of yelling.

"HARRY POTTER! Why on earth would you be outside without an adult? You know how dangerous this world is for you. Why would you be willing to risk your life for some fresh air? WHY?"

"Molly, please calm down," said Professor Dumbledore. "Panicking won't get us anywhere. Now, Harry, will you please tell us what happened?"

Harry debated about what all to tell them. He decided on the truth, but accidentally forgetting the part where Malfoy had a breakdown and he comforted the crying boy. Harry wanted to live long enough to see Voldemort fall and mentioning Malfoy crying would get him murdered in his sleep.

"Well," he said, "I woke up and decided to go outside for some fresh air, When I went outside I saw Malfoy lying in the grass, looking extraordinarily bloody. I ran over to him and tried to ask him what had happened, but he was in too much pain. That's when I brought him inside." Harry paused for a moment. "Sir, what do you think happened to him?" He was genuinely worried about the boy. Anything to make him put down his barriers in front of Harry had to be pretty bad.

Dumbledore sighed deeply. This would be difficult. Harry blamed himself for nearly everything that went wrong in the world anymore. And he usually did this when things were **not** his fault.

"Well," the old man began slowly, "it could have been one of three things. One is he greatly disappointed his father. Lucius is not above hurting his own son. The second is he seriously upset Voldemort. Tom is very likely to have done this to someone who failed him. The boy may have had a mission and failed. Or he could have disappointed them both and Tom decided that Lucius wasn't punishing him enough."

This news was extremely shocking for Harry to hear. How would Malfoy disappoint Voldemort? And even if he had disappointed his father, how could someone be so cruel to his or her own child? Wait a second. Of course family could be cruel. Just look at the Dursleys.

Then there was a soft knock at the door, and Madam Pomfrey entered.

"How is the boy, Poppy?" asked Dumbledore.

The look on the nurse's face did not look promising.

"He is stable, physically, but mentally… we may have some problems. It took a good bit of coaxing to get him to let me heal him at all." Then she turned to Harry. "Mr. Potter, did you have any trouble getting him to let you carry him inside?"

"No. He wasn't at all afraid. But he did say something about knowing that I wouldn't hurt him. It was almost like he trusted me." After Harry answered her question, Madam Pomfrey began conversing quietly with the Headmaster. Harry walked over to the window and looked out onto the spot where he found Malfoy. He truly hoped the beaten Slytherin would be all right.

Mrs. Weasley was beginning to worry about Harry. Over the past six years Harry Potter had become like an eighth child to her. With everything that he had been through over those six years, she could tell that Harry was becoming more and more introverted as the years progressed. Sirius dying, plus how he seemed to be taking this Malfoy business, made her worry about the boy's well-being.

Mrs. Weasley wasn't the only one worrying. Hermione watched Harry look over the front yard and was trying to figure out how to approach him without making him too angry when Mr. Weasley came in.

"Harry, Draco wants to talk to you. Even if he doesn't talk about what happened, I think it might be best for you to be in there rather than Ron. You're less likely to kill the boy," said Mr. Weasley with a faint smile.

Harry nodded and started for the door. As he left, he could feel the worried stares of four people on his back.

Ron past by Harry on his way downstairs. You could almost see the steam coming out of his ears. Harry made his way to the Weasley's bedroom. He took a deep breath and walked through the door. Malfoy was lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling. He didn't even look as Harry walked in. He sat down on a chair next to the bed, and started looking over the Slytherin before him.

Even healed, Malfoy didn't look any less awful. He only looked less bloody. His hair stuck to his forehead and his skin was sickly pale. There was almost no fat on him, like he hadn't eaten in weeks. The passionate hatred was gone from his silver eyes, leaving hopeless gray ones behind. The ill boy turned his head to look at Harry.

"Hello, Potter, how are you?"

"I've been better but I've been worse too so I don't guess I can complain." Harry would just go with whatever Malfoy wanted to talk about. He saw no need to push the boy.

"And you, Malfoy? Are you at least feeling a little better? Physically anyway."

"A bit I suppose. Doesn't matter though, because I probably still look like hell. How has your summer been, Potter?"

The conversation continued this way for nearly an hour. They talked about current events, Harry filled Malfoy in on Quidditch, and they even got around to talking about the weather. After an hour, Malfoy said he was getting tired.

"Alright," said Harry, "I'll leave so you can rest."

"Wait! Don't leave yet, Harry, please. I don't want to be by myself right now."

Harry smiled at the blonde boy. "Okay, _Draco_, I'll stay."

Draco got more comfortable and fell asleep. His last thought before drifting off was, _'He called me Draco.'_

He watched as Malfoy got settled in and fell asleep. A few minutes later, Hermione came in to check on them. Harry asked her to bring him one of his Quidditch books so he had something to do. When she came back, she had his book and his summer homework. The last thought Harry had before starting his book was, _'He called me Harry.'_

End chapter two.

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	3. Chapter 3

I would like to take a moment to thank all of my fantastic reviewers who are saying very nice things about me. The chapters, ladies and gentlemen, more than likely, won't be getting any longer; but I promise to keep the quality as good as all of you are making it out to be. Thank you for your time and keep reviewing. By the way, I'm much more of a smart-ass than I sound in this introduction. Just FYI.

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Chapter 3 

When Draco woke up he felt hungry. After gathering his strength for a minute, he sat up and turned around and there was Harry Potter. The Gryffindor had fallen asleep with his summer homework on his lap. Draco was in shock. The boy had actually stayed while he slept. He had expected Harry to stay until he fell asleep and then leave not stay the _entire time._ Not that Draco was complaining, mind you, it was just a shock. Wait, just a second. He had thought of the Boy-Who-Lived as Harry. That was just it. The world had to be ending; Loony Lovegood must have gotten evidence of flying pigs; hell has frozen over and Dumbledore is using it as a playground for penguins. There just wasn't any other explanation for the Prince of Slytherin to be thinking of the Gryffindor Golden Boy by his given name.

And because that wasn't enough, Draco realized he had pleaded with Harry, no Potter, to stay with him while he slept. Humiliating just didn't cover it. Draco had begged his arch nemesis to stay in the same room. And… Harry stayed. That raven-haired, four-eyed nemesis had agreed to stay and really did it. Draco started to smile at the last thing he had heard the Gryffindor say. _"Okay, _Draco_, I'll stay." _Harry had used his first name.

A light snore brought Draco back to reality. How utterly perfect was it that Saint Potty snored? As he felt his stomach grumble, Draco remembered why he woke up in the first place. Food. Time to wake Harry up.

"Potter, hey Potter, wake up," Draco said while gently tapping the sleeping boy.

"Mmmm, what's going on?" said Harry as he slowly woke up. Then he saw Draco looking at him. "Oh, hello, Malfoy. Feeling rested are we?"

"Slightly, but I could've continued sleeping and staying out of your hair were it not for the fact that I'm hungry."

"You woke me up for food? Oh, come on, Malfoy, what do you want me to do about it at…," Harry said as he looked at the clock on the wall, "… four in the morning. Everyone is asleep. I can't go wake them all at four just because you're hungry. We'll just have to wait until Mrs. Weasley gets up in two hours."

"Two hours! I can't wait two bloody hours for food. I haven't eaten in days. Hang on, it's four in the morning. That can't be right, because I fell asleep around two in the afternoon."

Harry sighed. Geez, this boy was thick. "Yes, that's right, I have been sitting here for fourteen hours just because you had to go and ask me to stay. I'm suddenly understanding why you've called me Saint Potter all these years. No one else I know would have stuck it out this long. Are you happy?"

Draco hadn't expected the boy to stay at all, but fourteen hours of sitting in that chair just because his worst enemy asked him to was a little extreme. Well, maybe Draco wasn't Harry's worst enemy but he had to at least be in the top five after all the crap he'd given the Gryffindor over the years.

Harry got up to go to the bathroom when he heard Draco say something.

"Yes."

Harry frowned. "Yes to what, Malfoy?"

"Yes, I'm happy."

Harry's breath caught in his throat.

"Oh, okay then, I'm just going to the bathroom now, be right back."

He left and shut the door quietly behind him. Why in the world


	4. SO SORRY again

Hello everyone. Wow, I think that I had actually forgotten about this story. Someone just added it to their story alerts, and reviewed it. That sort of reminded me that I shouldn't have left everyone hanging like that. I'll start working again soon, I swear.

Lara

PS Sorry for kind of lying and saying that I would right more and then waiting a whole year. Please don't get too mad.


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